Full employer posting
$23.06 - $28.64 per hour Pay Transparency: The above reflects the anticipated hourly wage range for this position if hired to work in New Jersey. The compensation offered to the candidate selected for the position will depend on several factors, including the candidate's educational background, skills and professional experience. At RWJBarnabas Health, our behavioral health support teams operate at the heart of a compassionate, multidisciplinary environment dedicated to transforming the patient experience.
We are seeking a dedicated Mental Health Associate II (MHA II) to provide essential therapeutic service, treatment, and clinical group leadership within our psychiatric services framework. In this vital role, you will function as a clinical care partner alongside the Registered Nurse while mentoring frontline providers and optimizing departmental operations. If you are an empathetic advocate eager to combine hands-on patient care with professional clinical coordination, we invite you to build a rewarding career with us!
A Typical Day Clinical Supervision & Team Mentorship: Directing, instructing, and supervising the work of department team members, including managing accountability logs, regular observation of group work, and coordinating 1:1 patient observation assignments. Direct Care & Therapeutic Interventions: Providing standard delegated nursing care to a diagnostically and developmentally specific psychiatric population, including tracking vital signs, I&Os, weights, performing EKGs, and executing waive testing under the direct supervision of an RN.
Technical Medical Tasks: Safely collecting and processing clinical lab specimens (urine, blood, throat cultures) while ensuring complete registration and labeling compliance. Milieu Safety & Observation: Maintaining ongoing observation of patients throughout the shift, reporting behavioral changes to licensed staff, facilitating crisis de-escalation, and completing incident reports or environment checks. Operations & Schedule Optimization: Assisting with the programming assignment and distribution of department schedules, adjusting plans fluidly to respond to special patient situations or crisis triage needs as they arise.
Quality & Document Compliance: Reviewing documentation data to ensure strict record-keeping standards, and participating in continuous quality improvement initiatives to revise department policies, assessment forms, and procedures. Admissions & Discharge Navigation: Conducting patient intake procedures (demographics and history), orienting families, and assisting with clinical admission, transfer, and facility discharge workflows.
This Role Might Be For You If You are deeply passionate about creating a structured, supportive, and non-judgmental environment for individuals navigating severe psychiatric challenges. You excel under pressure, maintain an exceptional professional demeanor, and enjoy a collaborative role alongside nurses, physicians, and multidisciplinary treatment teams. You are a high-energy, detail-oriented leader who takes operational pride in documentation excellence, workflow organization, and mentoring newly hired staff.
You value accountability and continuous performance improvement, utilizing sound clinical judgment to solve scheduling or operational challenges independently. You believe that true behavioral recovery, patient safety, and clinical excellence are optimized and strengthened through kindness, deep empathy, and clear communication. To Be Considered Education &
Minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree (B. A./B. S.) in Psychology, Sociology, Behavioral Health, or a closely related human services field; OR a minimum of ten (10) years of full-time, relevant working experience within a psychiatric services setting is strictly acceptable in lieu of a degree.
Must possess or successfully obtain current American Heart Association Basic Life Support (BLS) Provider certification and Behavioral Emergency Skills Training (BEST) certification, maintaining both annually. Onboarding: Must successfully complete the comprehensive hospital clinical training orientation pathways. Physical Stamina: Ability to meet the demands of a physically and emotionally challenging acute patient care area, including restriction-free walking, lifting, and managing potential physical assault risks from acute psychiatric clients in accordance with the ADA.
Evening shift · 40